HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Pirates win on Schoenauer's record day

MT. HOLLY — On the same field where NFL legends Irving Fryar and Hall of Famer Franco Harris had some historic games in their high school careers, Brian Schoenauer made history himself yesterday.

The West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior set the alltime Mercer County career rushing record when he ran for a career-best 300 yards while scoring three times to power the 4-1 Pirates to a 24-15 West Jersey Football League win over Rancocas Valley.

Schoenauer, who began his big day with an interception on the opening play then on his first offensive play ran 49 yards to set up a field goal, used his 15-for-300 performance to break the previous CVC career mark of 3,842 yards held by Allentown’s Ross Scheuerman, now a sophomore at Lafayette Schoenauer, who needed 133 yards coming into the game to set the record, now has 4,009 for his career.

“This is a testament to the coaches we have and the great offensive line that blocks for me,” said Schoenauer, who is off to a quick lead in defending his CVC rushing crown with 700 yards and 11 touchdowns.

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Schoenauer had 106 yards on his first two carries, going 57 for his first touchdown midway through the first quarter.

He had 106 yards in the first period, 171 by halftime and went for 100 in the third on four runs.

Meanwhile the Pirates got five sacks from their defense in addition to Schoenauer’s early interception. Nick Benfer had two of the sacks, while Tom Efstathios, Altan Aldemar, and Mike Enriques each brought down RV quarterback Alex Finelli.

The Red Devils were held to 75 yards of total offense until they got on the scoreboard with a safety in the 10:55 to play when South QB Malik Fuller got sacked in the endzone. RV scored later in the quarter on two touchdown passes from Finelli to Jabree Kemp and Charles Reid.

South coach Todd Smith doesn’t want to overwork his franchise back, who only returned last week after missing a game and a half with a hamstring injury. Schoenauer has had three games over 200 yards in his three starts.

Schoenauer admits he sometimes gets winded, but on most of his runs he is seldom touched because of the lanes his offensive linemen open for him.

“This was a good win for us because orf all the (NJSIAA) power points we can pick up,” said Smith, who brings his Pirates back to Burlington County on Friday for another big test at Burlington Township.

He hopes his defense plays with the intensity it showed against the (1-3) Red Devils, who have lost both of their home games to Mercer County schools - having fallen to Notre Dame three weeks earlier.

“There is so much parity in Group IV that every game is important when you need power points,” said Smith. “We told our kids we had a big Burligton County run coming with three games against Burlington teams and we had to try and win them all. This was a good start.”

Fittingly Schoenauer passed Scheuerman’s reord on his 49-yard touchdown run with 2:59 left before halftime. It sent South into the break with a 17-0 lead.

Schoenauer, who is closing in on a third straight 1,000-yard season, got the Pirates their final points when they had been pinned deep in their own end after a 50-yard punt. Schoenauer got two on the first carry then used tremendous acceleration through the hole to break off a 90-yard run down the sideline in front of the Pirates bench.

“The record feels great, but it’s nicer to get the win,” said Schoanauer. “I knew the record was close, but what we really wanted when we came here was the win. We got both and it feels great,”